By Monday morning, Pietro had been forced to listen to St. John Allerdyce’s entire life story repeatedly from a suddenly giddy Lance.

To sum it up: he was kid from a well-to-do family. He lived in Chicago with relatives for a bit of his life, where he was Lance’s bestest best friend in the whole wide world. A year or two ago, he went back to Australia because his parents had missed him (or something like that. Pietro wasn’t listening with all of his attention by that point). This is what he had picked up in between tales of childhood mischief and all the other crap Lance and John used to do while the Aussie lived in Chicago.

From Allerdyce, he got the entire tale of his recruitment to the Brotherhood. Basically, some chick (some hot chick, according to John) who called herself the “Scarlet Witch” picked him up, talked to him about his already emerged (but not yet exploited) powers, and convinced him that being under Magneto’s guidance would be the best deal for him. Then, he persuaded his parents to let him move to America, where he could deal with his “problem” and come back a better man. And that was that.

It made Pietro sick. From the sound of it, Allerdyce’s life was pretty easy. Rich, loving, understanding parents. Didn’t have to be sent to jail or level part of his school... All he had to do was answer “yes” to a simple question and *poof!* he was in the Brotherhood.

Plus, seeing him hog Lance to catch up on old times was extremely nerve grating. Pietro was beginning to have difficulties suppressing his urge to speedily punch the guy. I’m fast enough, I could do it without anyone noticing. And then when he complains about being hit, I’ll just say it was... Okay, I can’t think up an alibi.

Monday. The dullest day of the week. Pietro rolled over and stared at the wall for a few moments. Don’t wanna get up. Wanna sleep more. Mmm... sleep. Sleep’s almost as nice as Lance. He wondered briefly where Lance was and decided to get up and get ready for school. After all, there was that stupid meeting to go to.

“Come on! Why are you acting like this?! Haven’t I been good to you, baby?!” he suddenly heard Lance shout from outside.

“I really don’t think that constitutes as bein’ good to your baby,” came John’s amused voice in response.

Pietro scowled at the sound of the two and began to get ready. After completing his short morning routine, he grabbed his backpack and headed outside, casting a curious glance at Lance and the other three members of the Brotherhood.

“What are you yelling about?”

“His car won’t start,” John offered, as Lance was too busy pleading and kicking the car, “and he apparently thinks that he’s bein’ good to it by beatin’ it.”

“Kicking it is not going to get it started, Lance,” Pietro said flatly, blowing off Allerdyce and walking over to the angry teen and the dented vehicle.

“Works with the television,” Lance grumbled.

“We’re wasting more time by doin’ this, Alvers. Let’s just walk,” John suggested impatiently.

“Yeah. Mystique wants us at her office before school starts. If we walk to school, we could still make it.”

“You could still make it, Pietro,” Lance snapped, delivering another kick to the car for good measure. “Oh well, I guess that’s our only option.”

“Aww, I don’t feel like walking,” Fred whined. “Why don’t we try the car again?”

“You couldn’t even fit in the car, Fred, we have an extra person to take!” was Pietro’s annoyed response. “Look, we’re already on thin ice with her, and I, for one, don’t want to get into any trouble.”

“Pietro, haven’t you noticed how you’re the only one of us who doesn’t get disciplined by Mystique?” Lance asked, receiving agreeing nods from Freddy and Todd.

“I ‘aven’t been disciplined yet,” John added helpfully.

“Just give yourself time, you will,” Lance retorted firmly.

“Sorry, Lance, I’ll try harder to get on her bad side if that’ll make you happy,” Pietro said with a roll of his eyes. “However, right now, I’m going to school.” And with that, he was gone.

Pietro shrugged. “Probably still trying to get Lance’s car started. You know, we could really use a new car.”

“I’ll consult Magneto about it,” she replied skeptically. “Tell them to walk in the meantime.”

“They won’t listen to me.”

“Well, make them listen!” she snapped. “I have some small orders for you boys and--”

“We’re... here!” Lance gasped, leaning in the doorway.

“What happened?” Pietro inquired, not bothering to get up from his seat in front of Mystique’s desk.

“He spent another couple minutes tryin’ to get it started, then he just started running at top speed,” Todd explained from behind Lance, who finally dragged himself into the office.

“By the way, Lance, you forgot your backpack,” John said with a smirk.

“Aww, damn!”

“Where’s Mr. Dukes?” asked Mystique as she glared sternly at the boys.

“Beats me. We lost Freddy a couple blocks away,” Lance said, collapsing onto a chair beside Pietro. “Doesn’t matter, we’ll just fill him in like usual-- er, unless you actually need his input for once.”

“No. You four will suffice. Oh, and here’s your schedule, Mr. Allerdyce,” she said in an offhand tone as she handed the new recruit a sheet of paper from her desk.

“So, what’s this about?”

“I’ve caught word that Xavier has repaired and possibly upgraded Cerebro since the Juggernaut’s attack.” She was met with blank looks. Sighing, she continued. “Magneto has instructed that Mr. Allerdyce not use his powers until told to.”

“Why?”

“Because if he does, Cerebro, upgraded or not, will detect him, and we want our latest addition to be a nasty surprise for the X-Men.”

“So, does Mags have any plans for us, besides keeping John’s being a mutant under wraps?” Lance asked, already growing bored with the meeting.

“Yes. He wants all of you to lay low for now. Apparently, mutants are becoming known to the public. It’s developing into a controversial issue in the Washington area. It’s best that we avoid being caught up in the mess for now. We’ll fully reveal ourselves when the time is right.”

“Sooo... what exactly does this mean?”

“Consider yourselves on vacation for now, boys. Try not to use your powers very much, especially in public. This specifically applies to you two, Todd and Pietro. Todd, you will not use your tongue on school grounds, or eat insects, or flip around. And Pietro, you are to walk at a normal pace.”

“Walk?! That’s just cruel!” Pietro protested, standing up. He could’ve sworn he heard her murmur “Good” under her breath. Well, that wasn’t nice. Of course, Mystique wasn’t exactly the model of niceness.

“Okay, is that all?” Lance asked, getting up as well.

“Yes, go.”

As they walked out of her office, Pietro could swear she was giving him the same look that she had when he first asked about that witch girl. He shrugged it off and followed Lance (and, unfortunately, Allerdyce) to his locker.

“This sucks,” he muttered. “You know, nobody even notices when I run, anyway! They just think it’s a draft or something, so what’s the big deal with me using my pow--”

Lance’s hand abruptly covered Pietro’s mouth. “Shh, no using the ‘p’ word in public.”

Pietro mumbled something from behind the fingers.

“Eh?” he asked, moving his hand away.

“I said ‘fuck you’.”

“You first,” Lance retorted with that stupid ‘I want some’ grin on his face.

“Ahh... is there something you neglected to tell me?” John asked warily.

Oops.

“We kid! This is the way we joke!” Lance forced, using the same phony laugh that he once used to convince himself that he didn’t like Pietro. The morning bell rang, thankfully cutting Lance off.

“Okay. To each his own, pal. So, care to show me where my classes are?”

“Sure, buddy,” Lance agreed, waving off Pietro and walking away with John.

Oh, how I wish I wasn’t the jealous type, Pietro thought with a frown. But I am, so grr.

Evan Daniels was late. Crap! Crapcrapcrap! were the thoughts rushing to his head as he ran down the hall to his third period: art class. One more tardy, and I get detention. It wasn’t his fault he was always late; his second period class was at the other end of the school.

He burst into his classroom and skidded to a halt as the tardy bell rang.

“Just on time, Evan. I’m impressed,” Mrs. Adams, his teacher, remarked in an amused voice.

He took his usual seat, looked to the right, noticed a new student, then focused his attention to the teacher. He then did a double-take.

Female. Auburn curls framing a face of lightly tanned skin and azure eyes. Pretty cute. Mmm.

“Well, hello there,” he greeted, lowering the pitch of his voice in an attempt to sound manly and not fourteen.

“Hi. Is there something wrong with your voice?”

Evan coughed and said uncertainly, “Ahh, no, just had a-- ah-- frog in my throat?”

“I see,” she said with a chuckle.

“I’m Evan Daniels. Are you new here?” Duh, of course she’s new! Stupid question.

“Yes. This is the first time in a while that I’ve been to a public school. I’m Wanda, by the way. Wanda Maximoff.”

“Wanda, eh? Wanda Maxi-- what?!”

“Evan, is there a problem?” asked Mrs. Adams.

“Uh, no, ma’am,” he replied, flushing with embarrassment. For the rest of the class period, he tried to avoid awkwardness with Wanda as much as possible. It was quite difficult, since he was seated next to her and all. As her lump of clay became more and more hideously deformed, he cringed and tried his best not to offer her any help. The words refused to leave his mouth, which was fine, due to his little plan of avoidance. So, instead of aiding her in a horribly uncomfortable manner, he simply ended up gaping at her, opening and shutting his mouth like a fish out of water.

Pietro’s sister. Of all the luck! he thought dejectedly, turning his attention back to his sculpture. Maybe they just have the same last name. After all, I’ve never heard of Pietro having a sister before... His eyes traveled back to the artistic abomination. Okay, so she’s not the best artist in the world...

Wanda growled in frustration and smashed the clay.

She definitely has Pietro’s temper. Well, who cares about him? I’ll offer the girl help if I damn well want to!

“Hey, need any help with that?” the girl beside Wanda asked.

Darn! Beaten to the question!

“Oh, sure. Thanks.”

Well, Evan, my man, you’re being stupid, he told himself in third person. That’s Pietro’s sister, cousin, or some relative of his; besides, offering her help wouldn’t have gotten you anywhere, anyway.

“The bell’s going to ring in ten minutes, class, so clean up.”

Ahh, an excuse to get away from Wanda and avoid awkwardness. Evan got up and cleaned the clay mess on his table. He then walked over to a sink to wash his hands, where he bumped into Wanda.

“Excuse me,” she said, blushing. “I didn’t get clay on you, did I?”

“No-- er, uh-- do you... um-- do you have a brother or a male relative that goes to this school?”

“Uh...” She avoided his eyes and began to wash her hands. “No. Why?”

“No reason! Let me officially welcome you to Bayville High!” He offered his hand, then withdrew. “Oh yeah, the clay. Let’s forget the handshake, then.”

“Okay,” she laughed. She turned the sink off and grabbed a paper towel. “I think I’m going to like it here.”

“Hey, guys.”

“Hey... have you noticed anything strange about the Brotherhood lately?” Scott replied. Always to the point. Evan wasn’t sure if that was a blessing or a flaw.

“Not me!” Rogue piped quickly.

“No, nothing at all,” Jean said nervously, as if she was being interrogated for some crime.

“I met a girl with the same last name as Pietro’s, but I don’t think that counts.”

“Oh... okay. Well, I have. Ever since that incident in the park... You know what Alvers did today in Physics?” asked Scott.

“No, what?”

“Nothing!”

“I... see how that could be a problem, man,” Evan said slowly with some skepticism.

“He’s usually doing something stupid, that’s the thing. He didn’t even insult me today! Jean, could you try to pick up some thoughts, see if Mystique and them are up to--”

“No. No, I can’t. Sorry, Scott, but I-- ah... no.”

“Jean, are you feeling okay? You’re acting a little--”

“I’m fine, Scott, don’t get worried about me.”

“And as for Lance, uh-- you shouldn’t be concerned about him. Ah doubt he’s plannin’ anything,” Rogue insisted.

“Well, it’s not just Lance. I mean, the others are acting a little stranger than usual, too. Like Pietro--”

“Ah’m sure it’s nothin’!” Rogue said vehemently, suddenly paling more than usual. “They’re just a bunch of freaks! Let ‘em act that way without persecutin’ them!”

“Um... okay.”

“Gotta go! Don’t wanna be late for class!” Jean and Rogue quickly said, taking their leave, resulting in Evan and Scott standing alone with looks of mild confusion on their faces.

“Girls,” Evan said with wonder. “They’re so hard to figure out.”

“Tell me about it,” Scott groaned.

Pietro sat in the locker room, impatiently tapping his foot while waiting for the bell to ring. He had already finished dressing back into his regular clothes, and so he was stuck in a room with a bunch of sweaty, half-naked guys moving at snail’s pace to get their normal clothes back on. This was the farthest thing from Heaven.

I love gym class, he thought dryly. There was a sudden shriek, and he sighed. Todd’s getting into trouble with some jocks again. This is as regular as clockwork. I wish things would change.

He then remembered that things had changed, what with the arrival of Allerdyce and the death of Lance’s car, not to mention his dating Lance and getting a tiny bit farther with him only a few days ago.

Okay, so those are changes. But, I want school changes, too! No more routine! No more waiting around for the rest of the world! I’m gonna--

Not use my powers.

Damn it! This is so boring! Bell, ring now! he commanded with his amazing mental powers.

No such luck. He looked at the clock on the wall and frowned. Five more minutes. That’s like five hours. Five days. Five weeks. Five-- okay. Point taken.

He looked down at his foot, whose tapping was rapidly gaining in speed.

“Oops,” he muttered, digging the heel of his other foot into the offending tapper. He stared at his feet intently. The tappy foot was beginning to bounce to life again.

“Stop that,” he growled, digging his heel in further. “Ow...”

One terribly long minute passed. Four more to go.

“What did you say about my mother?!”

“Uh... I didn’t say nothin’!”

Poor, poor Todd. I suppose I should go help him, but... nah.

He began to bounce lightly on the bench, his pent up energy yearning to be released.

Okay, stop, he commanded himself. No more bouncing. Can’t use my powers. Can’t run, must walk. Must keep energy locked away inside because I’ll get in trouble if I don’t. Get used to it, body!

“Um... What’s the matter, Maximoff? You’re squirming around like you have to use the bathroom, or something...” some guy whose name he didn’t know commented warily.

“Huh? I don’t have to use the bathroom. I have to... have to-- Argh! I can’t take this anymore! I have to run free and-- and-- Run!”

“Dude, you have problems.”

“Freedom!” Pietro declared as he jumped up from his seat and ran out of the boys’ locker room at the most “normal” speed he could muster.

“What’s up with him?”

“Dunno. He just freaked out.”

One boy peeked out into the gym and said, “He’s... running laps.”

“Why? The bell’s going to ring soon.”

“Um, maybe we should tell Coach.”

Meanwhile, Pietro ran, trying not to use his powers. As he sprinted around the gym, he muttered little things to himself like: “Run, run, as fast as you can. You can’t catch me, I’m--”

“Maximoff!” Coach called.

“Crap.” He stopped. “Yes?”

“I’ve written you a pass. I think you need to speak with the counselor.”

Pietro strolled over to his teacher and asked innocently: “Why?”

“I think you may have some-- eh, issues. Jones here tells me you’ve had a nervous breakdown.”

“But, I’m fine.”

“No ‘but’s.” He handed Pietro the pass. “Now, go see the counselor.”

Pietro blinked, then pocketed the pass. “Okay.”

“So-- Pietro, is it?”

“Yes.”

“I’m Mrs. Madison. So, I hear you’ve had a sort of nervous breakdown?”

“I didn’t have a nervous breakdown!”

“Mm hm. I know at your age there’s a lot of pressure on you. School, parents, girls... It’s okay to have feelings of frustration. Now, everything you tell me will remain confidential. I’m not here to judge you. Tell me, have you been experiencing some changes in your life?”

“Some, maybe, I guess-- yeah,” Pietro admitted, still feeling a little fidgety. He squirmed in his seat, trying to hold back the urge to bounce and run around.

“I see.” She jotted something down in her notebook. “Care to tell me about them?”

“Well, it all started a Sunday morning a couple months ago, shortly after I transferred here. Anyway, I was sleeping, and a... uh, friend of mine decided to come in and--”

Pietro had missed half of lunch by the time he was let out of Mrs. Madison’s office. He walked briskly to the cafeteria, smiling brightly. It felt good and healthy to talk about things. Mrs. Madison urged him to speak to her again if he was still having problems. She also suggested that he might have ADD, but he knew better. It was only his powers and nothing--

Who’s that?

He stopped, standing at the entrance to the cafeteria, and stared at a girl sitting with Daniels, Summers, and the rest of the geeks. That face...

“Wanda?” he asked himself softly.

He walked towards them, ignoring Lance and the others as he passed their table up. Without warning, he wrapped his arms around her in a tight hug and exclaimed, “Wanda!”

“Hey, jerk, get off--” She stood up and spun to face him furiously. Her harsh gaze softened as she recognized him. “Pietro?” she asked in a voice barely above a whisper.

He nodded shakily, at a total loss for words.

“Brother,” she whispered, her voice cracking. She draped her arms around him and rested her head on his shoulder, holding back tears. “I’ve missed you so much.”

I will not make the ground shake. I will not make the ground shake.

“’ey,” John said, staring at the two. “That’s that witch chick.”

That ho’s a mutant?!

“Lance, are you all right?”

“I’m. Fine,” he growled. He watched Pietro and the girl with a hard gaze as they approached.

Bitch! “Hey, Pietro,” he said tightly. Cheating son of a-- “And... you.”

“Uh, guys... This is Wanda, my--”

“You’re having an affair!” Lance exploded.

“I-- huh? Lance, Wanda’s my twin sister,” Pietro explained calmly and patiently, as if he was speaking to a rather slow child.

“Oh. Hi, Wanda,” Lance said with a large, nervous grin.

“Hello,” she greeted.

“Affair on who?” the clueless John suddenly asked.

“No one. Nothing,” Lance muttered.

“You are one confusing bloke, Lance.”

“Hey, Pietro, aren’t you gonna introduce us to your sis?” Todd asked in that voice that people reserved only for when asking others for favors (A/N: HUH?).

“Ohh, uh, yeah. Wanda, that psychopath is Lance. And that’s Freddy, Todd, and John.”

“I’ve met John,” she said with a pleasant smile as she looked at the handsome Australian.

“G’day, luv,” he said with a wink. “Been a while, hasn’t it?” he joked, flashing her a grin.

“Two days is just too long, Allerdyce,” she replied, her tone flirty.

No, no, no! She’s not flirting with that Australian blowhard!

“You’ve met?” Pietro asked through gritted teeth.

“Oh, long story, Pietro.” Wanda focused her attention back to her brother. “Hey, can we meet after school somewhere? There’s so much I want to talk to you about.”

“Yeah. I know a good place.”

“You’d think their similar last names vould’ve tipped you off,” Kurt said with a good-natured grin.

“Well, she said she didn’t have a brother that went to this school,” Evan grumbled in his own defense. “From the looks of things, she didn’t know that Pietro does go to this school.”

“Do you think she’s, like, a mutant?” asked Kitty curiously.

“If she is, there’s no question she’ll join the Brotherhood now,” Scott said with his usual serious demeanor. “I doubt we can reach her.”

“Yeah. And who’s that other guy?” Rogue asked, pointing out John from the Brotherhood.

“Maybe another recruit. In any case, we’ll ask the Professor if he’s noticed any new mutant activity on Cerebro.”

School was over, and Pietro found himself sitting under a tree with his sister. He settled in the grass, lying on his back. He stared up at the leaves of the sheltering tree and said, “Is this somewhere okay?”

“Yes.”

“So, where do we begin?”

She laughed softly. “I really don’t know, Pietro.”

“You’re that ‘Scarlet Witch’ girl, aren’t you?”

“Yeah. What tipped you off?” she asked sarcastically.

Pietro sat up and looked at her with a serious expression “Does this mean that you’re a-- er, that you have powers?” he asked in a hushed voice, even though the two were alone.

She gave him a hint of a nod. “And I assume you’re a part of the Brotherhood.”

“Yeah. Aren’t you?”

“I guess. Only because my father wants me to.”

“Father?”

“Well,” she said, adding another nervous chuckle, “he’s not really my-- our-- father, but he might as well me. He’s such a great man, Pietro. He took me in, fed me, talked to me about what I considered a curse, trained me to master my skills...”

“What happened to those people who adopted you?” he asked with concern.

“Oh, them?” She looked at the ground and shifted uncomfortably. “They died. Our house burned down, and Father saved me. He assured me that everything would be okay, then he took me into his home and made me family. It’s just me and him. But, enough of that. How have you been?” Wanda smiled suddenly, her blue eyes sparkling. “Have a girlfriend yet?”

“Um... sort of... Not really.”

“Sort of? Not really? So, you have a boyfriend, then?” she pried, grinning mischievously.

“Ah... er... Lance-friend,” he said quickly, going red in the face (much to his sister’s pleasure).

“Lance-friend? You never did make any sense,” she proclaimed, shoving him playfully.

Pietro laughed. “Well, my Lance-friend doesn’t make any sense, so it’s a match made in Heaven.” He paused, then said, “Hey, Wanda?”

“Hm?”

“It’s been ten years since we came to America, right?”

“I think so. Why?”

“I was just wondering. Do you have any recollection of what brought us here?”

“A little, yes.”

“Funny. I don’t remember anything. Our parents, our country, our language-- nothing. So, I was just wondering.”

“Well, I remember...” Wanda trailed off. She drew her knees to her chest and shivered. “I remember fire and hatred. I remember people yelling and cursing us.”

“A mob wielding torches, kinda like in that old Frankenstein movie,” Pietro joked nervously. “All I know is our names. I can’t even remember the language I spoke! Sometimes a word here or there will come to mind, but I don’t get much more than that. Kind of sad, isn’t it?”

“No,” she answered as she stared down at her feet. “Sometimes some things are so traumatic that people simply force themselves to forget. When the memory is gone, it’s as if the bad never happened. Besides, we were only small children then. Children can occasionally replace one language with another, depending on their age when they move to a new country. I think so, anyway.”

“When did you get so wise?” he asked, a true smile breaking into his features.

“When you’re as great as me, wisdom is a necessity,” she said with a haughty toss of her hair and a smirk.

Pietro leaned forward and kissed his sister affectionately on the forehead. “I love you, Wanda.”

“I love you, too, Pietro,” she replied, throwing her arms around him. “It feels so good to be with you again. It’s almost unreal.”

“Feels real to me.”

“I’m glad. I hope we never get separated again,” she whispered, letting the tears fall from her eyes.

A/N: Okay, that was cheap of me making Pietro forget Romany. But, I haven’t found very many good resources on the language, and I am NEVER EVER going to do this: *Everything inside of the asterisks is in Japanese/German/Romany/whatever* So, in order to avoid doing that, I made him an amnesiac! Yay! (okay, not really. Well, at least I attempted to have Wanda come up with a reasonable answer...) . Wasn't the death of Lance's car sad? :D

Oh, and Wanda may be out of character. This would be because a) She’s not in Evolution, and b) I know close to nothing about her because she’s not in any of the comics I own (well, okay, there’s a picture of her in Quicksilver #1...), and I haven’t found a lot of info on her personality. Uh, and as for Pyro, I really don’t want to make him “Blatant Australian Stereotype Man!”, so I’m going to avoid using “mate” and “Shrimp on the barbie” and “G’day!” and stuff as much as possible (unless it actually fits or he’s joking and purposely acting like “Blatant Australian Stereotype Man!”).

Also, I’ve held off Magneto’s reaction to the affair because I still don’t know how he’s going to react yet. Hehe. This is what I get for not planning ahead. Anyway, there’s only going to be two, maybe three, chapters left of this story. Then, it’ll be all done and I write SEQUEL! Hahahaaaaaa.